Mental disorders, unmet need and barriers to care in Asian American elders: A career development proposal

Mentorship: Individual mentorship from Dr. Jürgen Unützer and Dr. David Takeuchi. Training Plan: Advanced training institute in geriatric psychiatry, and seminars in social science research methods including formal training in qualitative research methods and community-based research. Attend conferences on mental health in ethnic minorities including the Family Research Consortium Summer Institute's “Community-Based Participatory Research: Serving the Mental Health Needs of Diverse Families.” Background: Ethnic minorities have lower rates of mental health services and often poorer quality of mental health care for common mental disorders such as depression compared to whites. Further understanding the differences and interactions of ethnicity, social factors and barriers to care can guide the development of interventions to improve mental health services and quality of life.Specific Aims: Using data from the National Latino and Asian American Study (NLAAS): 1. To describe the prevalence of common mental disorders (depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder and alcohol or substance abuse) among Asian Americans, comparing older (≥ 50 years) and younger (18-34, 35-49 years) groups. 2. To assess mental health services use among individuals with common mental disorders and unmet need comparing older (≥50 years) to younger (18-34, 35-49 years) Asian Americans. 3. To identify potential barriers to care and enabling factors associated with mental health services use among older Asians. 4. To explore social or clinical factors associated with such barriers. Study design: Cross-sectional analysis of data from NLAAS, a national representative community household survey of Latinos and Asian Americans in the U.S. Analyses will be stratified by gender.